


On The Trail

by angellwings



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Banter, F/M, Friendship, Romance, Unresolved Romantic Tension, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:25:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2403407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before the Florida Campaign Stop Josh and Donna are both back in DC for a few days. Here's what happens. Set between "La Palabra" and "Ninety Miles Away" in season 6.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On The Trail

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Set between "La Palabra" and "Ninety Miles Away" in season 6. Let's just assume both Josh and Donna come back to DC briefly before heading on to Florida.

"You had dinner with him?"

Donna stared at him in shock from inside her open apartment door. What was he even doing here? "Who?"

"Don't play dumb. You know who," Josh asked as he gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm moving."

"Donna."

"I swear I'm moving, and I'm not telling anyone where I live. It'll be my sanctuary."

"You had dinner with Cliff Calley!" Josh exclaimed with his arms flailing.

One of her neighbors walked through the hall and glared at them. Donna sighed and grabbed Josh's arm to pull him inside of her apartment. "Will you please stop yelling in my building? I swear every time you come here people petition my landlord to evict me."

"You had dinner with Calley!"

"Yes, I did! God, what do you want from me, Josh?"

"After everything with that damn diary how could you possibly—"

"He's also the guy who put a stop to Leo's hearing because he felt like his side was about to take a cheap shot. Remember that?" Donna asked pointedly.

"One good deed does not a hero make," Josh said with a sigh. "What are you doing, Donna?"

"He's not the enemy anymore. He works for the White House. He has a West Wing office now. There's no reason—"

"My office! He has my office!"

Donna rolled her eyes at him. "You left your office. Remember?"

"So did you," Josh said softly.

She looked down at the floor before she took a deep shaky breath and looked back up at Josh. "I tried to talk to you about it. I tried, but you…you kept cancelling on me. I'm sorry for the way I left but I'm not sorry that I left. I needed more, Josh, and you know as well as I do that you gave me all you could. I had to leave to move onward and upward."

"Yeah, I know," he admitted. "I just wish you weren't working for Bingo Bob."

"He's the Frontrunner. He's polling better than anyone else in the field and the party likes him. Unlike you, I don't enjoy pissing off the Democratic Party," Donna told him with a grin.

"I'm well aware that the party likes him, but what I really want to know is if you like him. Do you like him?"

She sighed. "Josh."

"It's a simple question, Donna, do you like Bob Russell for President?"

"He's got 5 terms in Congress and White House experience that's more than Santos's 3 terms. Not to mention prior to you pulling him into this he was planning to quit, Josh. How can I be sure he's not going to quit when things get tough? And his whole campaign is going to be tough. From fund raising to convincing him people have to  _like_  him. He didn't play by party rules when he was in Congress what makes you think he'll be any easier to manage on the campaign trail? Isn't this an issue you've been dealing with already? Until I know the answers to those questions, Josh, I'm sticking with the guy who's in it to win it," Donna told him bluntly. "I like Santos, but if I'm going to leave a good position and a good salary then I need assurance that he's not going pull out or flame out."

Josh stared at her for a long moment. "Who said I was going to offer you a job?"

"Why else would you be here? You want me away from Russell," She paused briefly before she spoke again. "And away from Cliff."

"It was working for the Russell campaign that got you dragged into all those articles about Hoynes," He pointed out gently.

"The Russell campaign wouldn't have chewed on that particular bone if it weren't for me. I did that to myself, however accidentally," She answered as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"Just to be clear, Hoynes never—He never tried anything with you, did he?" Josh asked in concern.

Donna shook her head and placed a hand over one of Josh's tensed fists that he'd been holding stiffly at his side. She answered him honestly. "No. Josh, no. I had no idea why he was staying in New York and I had no idea that there was any scandal left with Hoynes. I just thought he was trying to throw us off."

"If he had tried anything, would you have told me?" Josh asked her skeptically.

"Did I tell you about Cliff?"

"Yes, but you didn't tell me about Captain Wonderful. And you kept what actually happened with Dr. Freeride from me for years."

"Josh, Hoynes and I were only in the same room a handful of times during the campaigns and the White House. He barely knew I existed."

"I don't think how well he knew you would have mattered."

"Nothing happened. Trust me, okay? I just had a hunch that he didn't have a sore throat. That's all," Donna said with a sigh as she took her hand away from his. "Can we drop it?"

"Yeah," Josh said softly.

An awkward silence stretched out between them and neither met each other's eyes for several minutes.

"Are you going to see him again?"

"Who?"

"Donna."

"He said he'd call me. That's all I know."

"He'll call," Josh told her.

"How do you know?" Donna asked as she quirked a brow at him.

"If he doesn't call then he's even more of an idiot than I think he his."

"Thanks, I think. Anyway, if he does call I won't have much time to see him. I meet up with the campaign again in two days," Donna told him with a small smile.

"Yeah?" Josh asked hopefully.

She nodded. "Yeah, and I'll probably be really busy with the campaign from now until the DNC."

"You think so?"

"Yes I do. And with a crazy schedule there doesn't seem to be much time to date," Donna told him with a smirk. "So, it probably won't work out."

Josh grinned at her without shame. "That's too bad."

"A cryin' shame, actually," Donna responded with a grin of her own. "Probably won't be seeing anyone else either."

He nodded and turned toward her apartment door with a crooked smirk. He opened the door and then turned to face her in the doorway. "That's the thing about the campaign trail. Not much time for a personal life. It's even worse for a campaign manager."

"Not even with Amy Gardner doing debate prep and Joey Lucas handling your polling?" Donna asked curiously.

He smiled and shook his head. "Not even then."

"That's too bad," Donna said with a smirk as she followed him to the door.

"Cryin' shame," He said as he repeated her words and maintained his smile. "I should probably go."

She nodded and her expression quickly sobered. "See you on the trail."

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, see you on the trail." She started to close the door but he held a hand out to stop her. "Donna?"

"Yeah?"

"You're good at your job," he blurted out awkwardly. "Just, um, just thought I should let you know. You handle the press well. CJ would be proud."

She smiled slowly at him. "You've done an extraordinary thing, Josh. You took an unknown Congressman and made him a household name. That's something no one thought you could do." She paused and bit her bottom lip nervously before she continued. "But you want to know a secret?"

He said nothing but gave her an interested look.

"I never doubted you. Not once," Donna said reassuringly.

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

"So, see you on the trail."

"See you on the trail," Josh said as he took a deep breath and nodded. He stood outside of her apartment door until the door was completely closed and debated knocking again. He shook his head at himself before he finally turned to leave. At least now he had hope. Maybe he could get her back when all of this was over. Maybe their friendship wasn't over.

Maybe.


End file.
